Fun fact: did you know that the Strip isn’t actually located in the municipality of Las Vegas, but lies in the greater outlying Clark County? It’s located south of Las Vegas City limits.

Mob scene goes corporate

I’m a huge fan of the commercialized history of Las Vegas through films like Casino starring Robert De Niro and Sharon Stone (check it out!). But with success came regulation, and the “wise guys” are now the “corporate guys.”

Ownership of the casinos has changed dramatically with large corporations owning multiple properties on the Strip. With such large ownership comes the opportunity to spin real estate in the most lucrative ways, including real estate investment trusts.

A fun fact: with all of the properties on the same head lease, the operators can’t expect to bankrupt even one to save on rental commitments. It’s actually pretty ingenious.

The MGM Growth IPO opened in 2016 and the lease revenue was valued at $550 million. Given recent acquisitions, that revenue is up 38 per cent to $757 million annually.

It might seem risky to bank on a REIT with only one tenant, but with $10.9 billion in MGM Resorts’ reported annual sales, I think they might be OK.

Consumption-crazy

I like to think Canada is a pretty progressive place when it comes to environmental sustainability which is why Vegas can be jarring when you consider the consumption, but little apparent recycling taking place.

According to local authorities, the amount of waste produced by a casino can be equal to that of a moderately sized city in a year.

A typical hotel room can go through 641 king sheets, 979 pillow cases and 750 bath towels per year, requiring 7,513 gallons of water for washing.

Casino recycling has been slow going with sincere efforts demonstrated only in the last few years. MGM Resorts, one of the biggest players in Vegas, reports it now has a Waste Council to oversee this part of operations.

In 2011, MGM Resorts boasted a recovery of 55.2 per cent of garbage from entertainment and shopping plaza CityCenter.

For a final fun fact: it has diverted as much as 7,600 tonnes of uneaten food to feed 2,500 local pigs!